ICC Champions Trophy 2017

[Ahmad94]

Taken from a page on FB.

You seem like a massive fan of Wahab Riaz, defending him on several occasions.

I fully admit that Junaid may not have been ideal, but I would have much rather he was in the 11 than Wahab. Wahab has constantly been expensive and for a frontline bowler, this is not ideal. Although, Majority of our issue were batting based, we should have restricted India to 270-280 tops.

When Rohit was struggling striking at 65 odd, Wahab gave him two free-hits and then bowled abysmally to Yuvi and Kohli at the death. He should be the front line leader and he was a joke.

 

[WubbaLubbaDubDub]

All the talk about how Amir would be dangerous, I would say Indian batters knew his potential and batted him out quite nicely. Although for 3 runs an over but thats how you give respect to players who are extraordinary. Pakistan will need to up the batting if they want to qualify for Semis because South Africa will hammer them away with the batting they have.

 

[Aalay]

Pretty expected result in the end just because India is way too strong right now compared to Pakistan. India as usual started very cautiously as Rohit and Dhawan did in 2013 champions trophy as well. They went with tried and tested method and it worked out today again as well. Kohli surprisingly looked very awkward today till he reached 50. He just did not get the timing which is very rare to see with Virat. However, he picked up very well afterwards and looked his usual best. For me, the momentum changed when Yuvraj came in to bat. I was actually a bit suprised when Yuvraj walked out as I actually wanted to see Hardik at that stage because only 11 overs were left in our inning. Hardik already had a pretty good hit out in practice matches while Yuvraj did not bat at all which was the reason I wanted to see Hardik but Yuvraj came in and changed the momentum of the game with his inning. He took the pressure off Kohli and was scoring at a very good pace. Hardik finished it off very well at the end.

In the bowling, all the bowlers bowled pretty decently so there isn't much to say about that. However, the fielding was pathetic. It was the worst I have seen India field in a long long time especially the ODI side. They really need to improve on that aspect because we can't afford to be this sloppy against South Africa.

I was a bit surprised by the team selection. I was expecting Shami to play over Umesh and Ashwin to play over Jadeja. Ashwin not having much match practice revcently might have gone against him. Also Jadeja's fielding is always a plus.

 

[WubbaLubbaDubDub]

Ass fired?

Oh BTW its time for people to go into hiding too

 

[Yash.]

I need to get some view on this.

I heard Ramiz Raja saying in the commentary, that Azhar Ali is not an ODI player but he has been asked to play and asked to open, just because Pakistan do not have any players. That was utter bullshit in my views.

@CerealKiller @Perfect Square @Ahmad94

 

[asprin]

Although I'm happy that India won, the one-sided-ness of the match disappointed me. It would have been so good had this been a nail biter.

On paper, India were miles ahead of Pakistan but the unpredictable nature of Pakistan had me worried for some time. I could only relax once I saw Shoaib Malik back in the pavilion, courtesy a brilliant direct hit from Sir Jadeja. I agree with the many here that Pakistan are suffering because they aren't picking their correct XI. Azhar and Hafeez are definitely not ODI material, at least not in this decade. They will need to find at least 2 players who can be busy during the middle overs (they needn't hit boundaries but just keep the scoreboard moving) and 2 power hitters down the order.

I'm also very happy for the fact that perhaps for the first time, India's bowling is turning out to be their strong suite. And it's not an overstatement when I say that India's bowling is better than Pakistan's at the moment. I can't recall an incident where India were so spoilt for choice regarding their bowling options.

All in all a great start for India. Pakistan, though down, can still come back if they somehow manage to get their act together against SA.

PS: That was some abysmal fielding from the Indians. So many misfields and two dropped catches (Jadhav one was embarrassing) . They were lucky that it didn't come back to haunt them like it did for Pakistan)

 

[Fenil]

While it feels great to see India win, it is disappointing to see Pakistan meekly surrender is much anticipated match. Gone are the days, when the tension used to rise with every bowl bowled. Razzaq, Younis, Akram, Akhtar, Inzy, Afridi. Heck, I would take a loss in a closely fought match any day over the one sided wins. They are not enjoyable at all. I fear the days of India's batting v Pakistan's bowling are over. Do something PCB! On one side you cry over the lack of talent and on the other, you are firm to not play brilliant players like Fawad Alam. I wish Fawad Alam quits playing in Pakistan and settles down in UK to land a deal with one of the counties there similar to what Imran Tahir did before moving to South Africa.

I remember this match which went under the ICC scanner for possible match-fixing but fans here in my city were like. We don't care if we lose on an odd occasion if the quality of cricket is of such high standard. Inzy was such a treat to watch during those days. Lazy elegance at its best.

 

[toecrusher71]

Australia,India and southafrica are in league of their own.NZ,Eng upto an extent.Rest all hit or miss

 

[asprin]

To all those who were complaining about Wahab Riaz, I was gonna post that H.Pandya is India's Wahab Riaz (in terms of RPO and not speed) but unfortunately, he turned up with a pretty decent performance.

 

[Salman.]

You seem like a massive fan of Wahab Riaz, defending him on several occasions.

I wouldn't call this defending. It was just an attempt to stop people from bashing the coach and management.

 

[CerealKiller]

I wouldn't call this defending. It was just an attempt to stop people from bashing the coach and management.

Junaid took 4 wickets in the warmup game. He was out of the side for ages, so you can't compare his stats to Wahab. Wahab averages 70 against the top eight sides since that damned spell in Adelaide.

 

[Perfect Square]

They even destroyed Razzaq earlier. He had 2-3 more years to play Hate You PCB

 

[Ahmad94]

I need to get some view on this.

I heard Ramiz Raja saying in the commentary, that Azhar Ali is not an ODI player but he has been asked to play and asked to open, just because Pakistan do not have any players. That was utter bullshit in my views.

@CerealKiller @Perfect Square @Ahmad94

True and False.

Firstly, Azhar Ali clearly isn't suited for ODI batting. I wouldn't mind his slow starts if he was able to hit sixes later on (like Rohit Sharma), but he takes such a relaxed approach to the game it kills it for Pakistan.

False in the sense that Pakistan have better openers within the circuit, Fakhar Zaman comes to mind immediately. It’s this stupid mentality of keep playing the same players until they perform once and then keep persisting with them.

One of the major reasons I am pissed with Pakistani management is how they ruined Umar Akmal and Ahmed Shehzad. When Shehzad came in to Pakistan side at 18/19, he was an aggressive opener, for example, his century in NZ in the early days was exceptional. Someone has clearly told him to change his style and completely killed his natural game. Same goes for Akmal and Anwar Ali etc.

If Pakistan are to be taken seriously within the next 6-12 months, they need to change their brand of cricket to something that is more attacking and positive. Otherwise, we will be planning the qualifiers for the CWC.

 

[Ahmad94]

I wouldn't call this defending. It was just an attempt to stop people from bashing the coach and management.

We should bash them. This is gone beyond a joke. I wouldn't have minded if it was a lean patch for one year or a couple of series, but there is no improvement in the side. Nothing new or different is happening and we are running fast into a brick wall.

First, Ramiz Raja ruins the domestic circuit, then Najam Sethi and Co. slowly destroy the side.

I will go far as to say that Pakistan has a strong possibility of finishing bottom of the group. At first, I was an optimist and felt that the 8th ranking didn't fully acknowledge the talent in the side, but I fully understand why we are there. To make things worse, with Misbah and Younis gone, I hope Pakistan doesn't ruin their test side aswell.[DOUBLEPOST=1496658217][/DOUBLEPOST]On a slightly positive note: I was trying to persuade my dad to come watch the Pakistan and India game yesterday as we only live about an hour from the stadium. However, he had work so I didn't buy the ticket. Luckily, that saved me £150 and more importantly, my dignity.

 

[AliB]

Had a put a lot of effort in this and it's CT related too, please have a check: CT17!